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A review by billymac1962
Bay's End by Edward Lorn
4.0
Like all newly discovered authors, I first heard of Edward Lorn via my GoodReads friends' reviews. As his name kept popping up it was becoming apparent that he could not write a bad novel, so I slapped Bay's End, his first, on my to-read list.
Now, the nice thing about Edward Lorn is that he is a self-published author, but he's not one of those guys who will solicit readers for reviews of free copies of their books. He's content with letting his work speak for itself via word of mouth, and it's awesome that this is working for him.
Also what I like about the guy is that he is an active book reviewer here, and they are great reviews. He's currently doing a re-read of King's works, which can be found here:
https://edwardlorn.wordpress.com/52-in-52-2015/stephen-king-library-reread/
King is an obvious influence on his writing and this is quite evident in Bay's End.
Bay's End is a small American town, and the story follows the summer of 1992 and 12 year old Trey Franklin. A new boy has moved in across the street, Trey's age, and the two become fast friends. As Lorn draws on his King influence, of course there will be bad things that happen in a little town.
Towards the end of the novel, it became quite predictable, but the reason for this was the Interludes that proceeded each section. This were brilliantly written, but the gist of them were mainly foreshadowing, which I wish he didn't have to do.
This is a short novel, and I blasted through it. His pacing is perfect, and although I didn't quite buy into Eddy's relationship with his parents at first, this smoothed over for me and I was totally absorbed throughout the novel.
A warning: Lorn pulls no punches with this story. Some disturbing things happen, particularly, so be forewarned (or spoiled, as it were).
I'm giving Bay's End a very strong four stars and am excited to read more of this guy. This will happen very soon.
Now, the nice thing about Edward Lorn is that he is a self-published author, but he's not one of those guys who will solicit readers for reviews of free copies of their books. He's content with letting his work speak for itself via word of mouth, and it's awesome that this is working for him.
Also what I like about the guy is that he is an active book reviewer here, and they are great reviews. He's currently doing a re-read of King's works, which can be found here:
https://edwardlorn.wordpress.com/52-in-52-2015/stephen-king-library-reread/
King is an obvious influence on his writing and this is quite evident in Bay's End.
Bay's End is a small American town, and the story follows the summer of 1992 and 12 year old Trey Franklin. A new boy has moved in across the street, Trey's age, and the two become fast friends. As Lorn draws on his King influence, of course there will be bad things that happen in a little town.
Towards the end of the novel, it became quite predictable, but the reason for this was the Interludes that proceeded each section. This were brilliantly written, but the gist of them were mainly foreshadowing, which I wish he didn't have to do.
This is a short novel, and I blasted through it. His pacing is perfect, and although I didn't quite buy into Eddy's relationship with his parents at first, this smoothed over for me and I was totally absorbed throughout the novel.
A warning: Lorn pulls no punches with this story. Some disturbing things happen, particularly
Spoiler
child abuseI'm giving Bay's End a very strong four stars and am excited to read more of this guy. This will happen very soon.